Lost In The Dark
by BL00D3vIL
Summary: For the people living in the City of Berk, everyone had a way with the arts. Be it abstract painting, acapella, or even ballet. For clumsy, no good, useless Hiccup, it seemed there was no hope for him. Little did they know, he also happened to be "Dark Prince", the legendary street dancer with no group and on his own. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone. I'm aware there are probably a lot of these highschool, double id Hiccup who is secretly famous, au's, but they're that amazing to imagine, which is why I'm going to try my hand at writing one.

This is just the pilot chapter, if I think I'm good to keep going, I'll keep writing, but if this is too shaky I'll take it down. Please enjoy and give me your opinions, thanks!

Disclaimer: Dreamworks owns all characters. The AU idea probably belonged to jeezus himself.

* * *

An alarm clock began to ring, rousing up the young man who was sprawled all over his bed, tangled up within the blankets. With a grumble, he cracked open his tired eyes as his arm reached for the damnable device that disturbed his rest. With nearly all the effort he managed to summon up, he rolled over onto his stomach to take a look at the time.

With a single blink, he took in the time and let out a hiss, nearly cursing as he realized with horror that he was going to be late if he didn't move his ass out of bed as fast as possible. To add to his troubles, it just had to be a Monday, he remembered as he finished brushing and rinsing his mouth. He began to dig through his closet, the first t-shirt, hoodie and jeans he managed to get his hands on were quickly worn as he swept his hair quickly with his hands.

The young man began to make his way down the stairs before he stopped and threw his hands up in silent frustration, he made his way back up and grabbed the bag in his room before running down the stairs again.

Sadly, he tripped on the last step, alerting the other man in the house.

"Hiccup!" His father, Stoick exclaimed in greeting, "I thought you'd never get down, yer going to be late if ya don't get movin' now, got everything?"

Hiccup, the young man in question, merely nodded, rushing to the front door where his shoes were, "Ah, yeah," He paused, yawning as he finished tying the shoe laces, "Ready to go. I uh … might be late though tonight, I got this … ah, well, it's a welcome back party thing, I can go right?" He asked, looking behind his shoulder as he opened the door.

Stoick thought for a moment, studying Hiccup's expression before he nodded, "Sounds fine. It's only the beginning of the year though, don't go crazy, son," he said, sternly as he watched Hiccup throw a small grin and bolt out the door. With a grunt, Stoick closed the door before getting ready to head out himself.

Outside, Hiccup panted as he barely made it to the bus that had stopped for a bit to wait for him. The bus driver gave an impatient grunt as he got on, paying, and drove before the teen could even get a steady hold of himself on the vehicle. With a sigh, Hiccup gripped the metal bar provided as he let himself dread about the next few hours at school.

This was the City of Berk. It was relatively new, and many things that needed to be fixed were often done so very quickly. It was a city full of lively people, but that wasn't all. Not only were the people of Berk lively, they were also known for their extreme understanding and producing the biggest and very successful artists on the continent. These artists came in the form of singers, musicians, painters, and dancers, everyone on Berk simply had a special attunement to the arts, they were simply born for it.

Sadly, despite all the legends, there had been exceptions made. Hiccup himself, was such. The boy's voice was weak, scratchy and simply couldn't hold a decent sound for the ears. He was unable to properly read notes and use instruments to construct pieces of music. His hands had a separate mind of their own, and his fingers were nearly trigger happy, thus rendering him unable to even draw a stick figure to save his own hide.

That had left him with dancing.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed like the gods were not done messing up his life. His father, Stoick the Vast was recognized nearly world wide for his mastery for many - if not all - instruments, and his ability to come up with songs just in a snap. Certainly not Mozart, though. His mother on the other hand, had also been a dancer. She was also able to 'master' many different styles of dancing, from ballroom, to formal, to streetdancing. Once she had passed on though, from a bar fight gone tragically wrong, his father had stopped at nothing to get him to walk down the path of music instead of dance.

If Hiccup didn't know his father any better, he'd almost accuse the man of trying to damn his life on purpose.

Being the son of two very famous people didn't help to hide his flaws at all. Especially at a arts school. As Hiccup mentally counted down the stops left to his destination, he realized with dread overflowing in his heart that his cousin and many of his childhood 'friends' had also caught a ride on the bus that morning as well.

With a silent sigh, he snapped his eyes shut as he began to pray that he'd be fast enough today to escape their pointless jabs before the morning bell went off.

After what felt like a lifetime, the bus pulled to a stop, and as the doors opened, Hiccup nearly leapt out, jumping all the steps and nearly falling flat on his face before he found his balance and set himself straight up once more. Inwardly, he began kissing the skies as he tried to make his escape quicker towards the building, and just as he thought he was cleared, an arm looped itself around his lanky shoulders.

"What's with the cold shoulder, dear cousin?" Snotlout sneered, leaning into his shoulder, "It really isn't polite you know, to ignore your family and friends, and on the first day back too!" He continued, waving an arm towards the rest of his friends who began to circle around Hiccup. "Ah. You know, we'll just let you off today, it's polite after all, since it's the first day," he decided at last, letting Hiccup go, nearly shoving the smaller and skinnier teen off of him in.

With a sharp intake of air, Hiccup lurched forward, desperate to keep his distance from the arrogant jock that was his cousin. As he finally broke clear from the circle that had formed, it seemed they were not quite done with him and had nearly tripped him as he struggled to get away. A round of laughter was exchanged as he finally fell flat on his face, but with a grunt, Hiccup pulled himself together as he continued his way, almost limping, to the building.

* * *

During Lunch, Hiccup had made a point to stop by his locker and dump most of the stuff he didn't need inside. With a nearly empty bag, he made his way into the cafeteria. He hoped that it hadn't filled up yet, it was quite hard to get a seat, a relatively empty space, where he wouldn't get picked on constantly as he ate.

On his way down the stairs, Hiccup nearly choked on his breath as the school queen, Astrid Hofferson, walked up the same set of the stairs past him. He had paused mid step, left his jaw hanging stupidly, and remembered to breathe afterwards. Astrid had been one of his childhood friends, best friend even, before the girl found her calling and left him to eat the dust.

With a grunt, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had moved on, he told himself, she grew up, and he grew up, he continued telling himself firmly as he continued walking. However, no matter how many times he had dismissed her in his thoughts, the single reminder that she was the most beautiful, especially when mad or angered, continued to linger.

Stopping once more on the stairs, he tilted his head upwards and gave a sigh. Perhaps it was better to just not eat today, clearly he had to get his mind working before his next class.

* * *

"Good day brats," a woman with raven black hair and a crooked grin greeted from her seat on the desk, "it's nice to see that you're all familiar faces, though there seems to be a small decline in numbers. No matter, we all know each other, so let's not waste time and dive straight in."

With a small mummer agreements from the rest of the class, Hiccup let out a quiet sigh that got mixed in with the rest of the noise.

Mrs. Nora, an accomplished musician who played the viola, had been Hiccup's music teacher for the last 3 years he had attended this school. Although he held no interest or talent in the subject, he always envied and was in awe of her knowledge and ability to play out just about any song they challenged her with.

"Hiccup! Mr. Haddock?! Are you even listening?" Her voice broke into his thoughts as he bit his lip to keep in a curse.

"Er, yeah … Sorry 'bout that, was thinking," He muttered out, nearly going red from the snickers that started to go around the room. In the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of blonde, Astrid, who merely scoffed quietly. Wincing, he coughed lightly, "could you repeat that?"

"I think instead of repeating the question, you should just repeat the years, Hiccup! It's a wonder you managed to pass at all!" Snotlout hollered from his seat in the back of the room, causing even more snickers to sound, "Honestly, if I remember clearly, I think the ones who dropped were the ones who got partnered up with you anyway," he added.

With a frown, Mrs. Nora stepped in, "Enough with that, it's your last year and I'd rather not deal with drama with you lot again this year, now I'll repeat it for all of you since I'm sure Mr. Haddock was not the only one to miss my instructions: go grab whatever you got last year and start warming up, I already got your pieces set, so hop to it!"

With grumbles and chattering, everyone set out to grab their instruments. Dragging his feet along with him, Hiccup made his way over to where the woodwinds were, and picked up a shiny looking flute, almost glaring down at it in his hands as he made his way to his placed seat. Around him, snickers and laughter continued, after all, what kind of guy actually played the flute? His cousin was on the drums and other percussions with Tuffnut and the lot, even Astrid was there. He was the only lame guy sitting amongst the girls with the tinker bell like sounding instruments.

As the chattering began to end, the sound of clashing music of different instruments began to ring in his ear. With a sigh, he began to play. Or attempt to. He blew into the mouth piece of the flute, but sadly no sound was heard. With a groan, he realized that he would have to get that stupid muscle memory thing to start working again. After all, the hardest part with the stupid flute was actually getting a sound of it at all!

The rest of the class went by, slowly, as Hiccup continued messing up or was unable to play properly. Truthfully, it actually seemed to go by a lot smoother since he wasn't playing anything at all, and therefore couldn't make any mistakes. A point that the rest of the class was not keeping too quietly.

* * *

"Oh gods. Who invited the loser here?!" Snotlout complained as loud as he could, catching the attention of just about everyone around him as he sneered at Hiccup across the parking lot. "Isn't it past your bed time already?" He continued, chuckling with the rest of the group as they made their way over to the crowds.

Hiccup just sighed again, letting the words of his cousin roll off him. He had been picking on him since they could talk, by now, he knew better then to return or reply to those petty words. With a solid mind, he looked from side to side, taking a look at the crowds that had gathered tonight before he nodded to himself and walked away.

The GoTrain parking lots were the best places at night for the rowdy teenagers of Berk. No one ever used them during the night and it was the perfect place for them to party. There was just enough lighting, people brought great music and drinks as well. However, the most important point of the place was the fact that many dancers often came out here to show their moves or get their groove on.

Formal dancing or any pansy dancing were immediately taken away, out here, it was street dancing. A whole different ball game. Groups or even solo mans were well known here, facing each other off in continuous patterns, different beats and overall amazing moves. It was friendly competition and everybody was probably just looking for a good time to connect through dancing.

In this group of teens, the most well known street dancer was a solo man. No one knew his real name, they had caught glance of his hair and eyes, but it was safe to say that no one had seen his true face. He was a complete mystery that just appeared one night, bringing his sick music and devastating dances onto the floor, and boy, did he floor them all. He was an overnight sensation that had never lost a round as of yet.

"Astrid, Astrid, do you see him yet?!" Ruffnut asked, shaking the blondes shoulder, this blonde in particular had not yet seen the 'legendary' streetdancer, therefore not exactly believing all the rumors that she had been told.

"No. You'll know when he's on," Astrid replied, smirking at the 'wonderous puppy' expression her friend held.

"I still don't get it. It's not that much of a deal, I mean … sure his music remixes are way too good, and he's way too flexible and thin … yeah, none of us measure up," Tuffnut sighed dramatically, snickering afterwards as the rest of them nodded in agreement, "There's no way anyone could miss him, he's so good, his talent literally oozes out from him!"

Astrid and Ruffnut pulled a face, before shaking their head and turning away from the twin to search the crowds.

Again, Astrid pulled a frown as her friend began to shake her shoulder once more, this time she looked over and gasped, "Yeah … that's him," she confirmed, taking in the hooded man's appearance.

The legendary street dancer who wore a black baggy hoodie and green camo pants. His shoes were black, but no one doubted that they were damn good for the dancer needed the grips at the bottom to stay good. Often times, the people would catch the glimpses of dark hair sticking out from under the hood or maybe even his green blue eyes, however the lighting while decent was never good enough to find out for sure.

He truly was a dark "Prince" through and through.

Everyone watched in awe as he made his way out to a relatively clear space, he cocked his head here and there before spreading his arms out, as if embracing all challenges before announcing in his deep voice …

"Who's ready to roll?"

* * *

Don't forget to leave a review, if you don't have that second to do so, give it a follow or favorite so I know that way too! Thank you. Hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again readers! I'm mind blown by the positive feedback I got just from that pilot chapter, so thank you to all of you who favorited, followed and especially those who reviewed! I was so surprised that I didn't get the usual 'Update plz. ty bro. gj' stuff, I thank you all sincerely from the bottom of my *stomach* heart.

**Black Dragoness**: Thank you kindly for dropping a review! To answer your question, I have decided to split things up, so some may be human and some may be pets. I have some headcanons about some dragons, but some dragons just don't get enough screentime for me to properly understand their role so they'll stick to being pets.

**Ilyasviel16**: Thank you for your review! And the good luck, I know I'll need it. The surprising thing is that I actually have never watched any of the 'Step Up' movies. I was actually inspired by 'Streetdance' and 'Streetdance 2'. Both movies are rather special in how they try to mix streetdance with another style. In the first movie, they mix streetdance with ballet and in the second one they mix streetdance and salsa.

A shoutout to **Thorongil82** and **QuillOwl**! Thank you both for your kind review!

* * *

"_Who's ready to roll?" _

In response to his challenge, a roar of approval was shared among the crowd that had came out tonight to see him, and the other dancers. People were already on their feet, jumping and pumping their arms, other groups held smiles and were jumping as well, ready to start grooving against the Prince. In response to all the cheers and roaring, the Prince merely lowered his arms before he raised only one hand up in the air, calling for a momentary silence which the crowd grudgingly gave.

The silence only held for a few seconds before the Prince rolled his hands into a fist and swung his arm down, kicking the box that lay beside his feet, starting up the loud and crushing beat of the music. Once again, the parking lot roared up in cheers as the Prince gave a crooked grin. Following up with his swung arm and leg, he began to move, letting his legs, arms and even his head follow the hellish beats.

When the Prince had started things, his opponent watched, returning his crooked grin as they bobbed their head and let themselves get used to the beats that ran on continuously. Once the Prince had dropped down into the splits and spun his way back up to bow for his opponent, that's when things were finally starting to heat up.

His opponent tossed his head here and there, rolling his shoulders before he too dropped forwards, starting things off with a simple worm before jumping back to his feet to continue with jerky body movements that fit the hard beats that continued to rain down in the parking lot like a raging ocean storm.

And Prince? He, too, was caught up in all the excitement, bobbing his own head, clapping along the beat as he watched his opponent dish out his moves. Ah, it was his turn once again. With a grin, Prince tip toed his way up towards the center of the floor, letting his arms spread out like a ghost before continuing with snaps of his arms and legs, giving a mocking salute before sliding back, snapping and turning all over. Then suddenly, he was in the air, jumping and flipping past all the beats.

Once he landed, on his knees, head held high with his arms embracing the sky, the audience followed, throwing a loud "Ooohhhhh" overhead.

With all the cheering and clapping, his opponent knew when he had lost. It had been fun while it lasted, and with that mindset, his opponent spun his way back into the crowd who welcomed him back with claps on the back and more cheering. Back on the floor, Prince was once more on his feet, hyping the crowd up with his arms.

"Hoooooly shit, you weren't kidding!" Ruffnut screamed over the noise all around them, she gave a friendly punch in Astrid's shoulder, "He's fucking gooooood!" She added, throwing both arms up in the air as Prince flipped and landed parallel to the ground, but still managed to catch his balance and continue.

Astrid wordlessly let the punch go unpunished as she smirked towards Ruffnut before she turned her attention back onto the floor where Prince was challenged by a small group of dancers, already moving in unison up towards him, like a pack of prowling wolves. Inwardly, she was celebrating like crazy as Ruffnut was, it had been a while since Prince had shown up at the parking lot, and it was honestly just a coincidence that the one night she had came out, that he had also shown up.

Astrid herself was a music prodigy, and dancing was something she was decent at as well, no where near what Prince was able to do, but she could handle herself in a club. No. The only reason she was out here was to hear the music and beats. Rumor had it that the dark Prince himself had remixed those, and that was where she was fascinated. Everytime she heard his music, it was if something came alive within her. Somewhere inside the crazy alien like notes and heavy beats, there was something inside those that stirred her heart into a frenzy and she didn't mind it one bit.

Like many in the crowd, she found herself dancing or at least jumping and pumping her arms like the rest of them, swept into the twister of pure talent that urged them all to join in, nearly hypnotizing them to let loose.

Just like that. With a single sweep of his arms and legs, he was almost physically like a twister himself, pulling them all in, making their eyes watch him as he spun, and let his body fall into practiced harmony with the music.

As Astrid continued watching on, she wondered, silently in her own heart, just how a boy like that was able to stir her - and perhaps everyone's - heart so simply, and if … she would ever reach such a stage in her own musical studies, so be able to invoke the same emotions she had now into others with her own talents.

* * *

Prince - or Hiccup - was well aware of how much his cheeks hurt, how much strain there was as he continued to smirk and grin. He couldn't help it, he couldn't help but to feel alive as he continued to move, to lose himself in the madness and willingly throw himself into the insane temperature that welcomed him.

Hell, anyone dancing at the moment would agree with him. There was no other moment when they felt more alive, when they lost themselves and let their bodies freely lead. It was no longer just a competition, it was a desperate attempt by them all to find their way to connect with the music to join the endless resonating beats. Fame and glory no longer meant anything.

There were no rules, no order of which their bodies needed to follow, while they may have practiced to fine tune the moves, when they were out here, everything flowed by itself, it wasn't like a planned out dance, they were basically making one on the spot.

That was how Hiccup loved it, to let adrenaline rule over and make up things on the spot. The rush of … something just creeping up his veins.

Sadly, as much as he wished to let the night drag on, he knew he needed to stop sometime. That outside the parking lot, away from the music and the crowd, his father was waiting, his life was waiting, the sneers and pointing were waiting for him. Biting his lip, he drove those thoughts away as he finished up, kicking the box as he landed from a spinning crouch.

All at once, something lost within the crowds just died. Every dancer was halted in mid-frenzy, painting quite the hilarious picture while the crowd began to boo, needing more of the music and need to let loose. With a simple smile and wave, Hiccup grabbed his box and made a run for it, jumping off the ledge and landing tiredly on his hand and knees before continuing his run.

Ah. This was the part he hated the most. To let everything go, to put a stop and let the adrenaline fade from him, reducing him to the clumsy tired mess he was after nonstop dancing.

Soon enough, he saw the car his father allowed him to use. With a rush, he leapt inside, throwing off his hoodie, and boy, did it feel good. All the sweat he had worked up seemed to leave with the hoodie that had been tossed to the back seats. He set the box carefully on the floor of the passenger seat before he shook his head, trying to clear up the fog that had settled there, muddying all his other thoughts.

Quickly, he realized that he was probably more tired than he thought, and without a second thought his hand grabbed at the bottle of water and chugged it down, taking deep breathes, he leaned back in the seat of the car, calming himself down. He was in no shape to start driving, and so he let the thoughts of his father, of school, and his other troubles flood in. Once ready, he started up the engine of the car, and with a heavy troubled heart, he drove off, now ignoring the cheering and whooping of the rest of the crowd that continued to have their fun.

* * *

"What the hell?! That's it?!" Ruffnut demanded as she nearly stepped over Astrid's shoulder to try and catch the street dancer who made his escape, "What the honest fuck, he can't just up and leave that's like … against all the laws!" She continued ranting, pulling at her hair as the rest of the crowd also voiced their discontent.

"Well … it is a little late," Fishlegs noted, "he's been dancing for a good 4 hours, if he didn't leave to go home, he's probably tired out after all that," he added, reminding them all once again, that the legendary street dancer wasn't some fallen god, but indeed human.

"Shut up! That still sucks, I mean, that's like cutting it all up into shred, no one should be leaving in the middle of something like that," Ruffnut protested, throwing her arms everywhere, outright jabbing Astrid's face more than once.

"Oh cut it out!" Astrid growled, punching Ruffnut's head and ignoring the loud exclamation of pain, she crossed her arms, "if we're lucky, he'll be here tomorrow, if not we could always go back to seeing if someone uploaded a part of it onto youtube."

"Are you kidding me?! Youtube and real life are totally different, the camera never catch what the human eyes see!" Tuffnut exclaimed, pointing at his eyes rather dangerously, "If we have to see pure talent, we should be seeing with our own eyes, not through the eyes of the lenses," he continued on.

"Hey! Don't diss the cameras," Fishlegs protested, stepping onto Tuffnut's foot angrily.

"Ha! It doesn't matter whether it's real life or not, he's going to mess up someday and everyone's going to end up seeing it," Snotlout announced loudly, looking quite sure of himself, "thought I suppose watching him mess up in person would be a nice bonus," he added, cackling.

Rolling her eyes, Astrid turned to leave, ignoring their questions as she made her way to her own car. Typical, really. Astrid was there to enjoy the rush and music, Ruffnut was genuinely interested in dance, as was Tuffnut, so the twins didn't exactly grate on her nerves as much on nights like this. Fishlegs was also a nice to be around, seeing as he was more or less their voice of reason. Snotlout though? Sometimes she honestly had no idea what the boy was doing when he hung out with them. He held himself as some great being, he loathed others' success, and made sure to belittle those who held potential, and then stepped on those who fell from grace or had not found their calling yet.

All in all, she found him to be an annoying pest, she could barely stand him, but sadly their parents happened to be friends and so she - and probably the rest of their group - had to deal with him.

That night, as she was driving back home though, the thought that Hiccup, the scrawny quiet shy boy was actually the arrogant jocks cousin was a little mind blowing. Hiccup was nothing like Snotlout. He knew nothing of success, no one knew what he could possibly become, and he was so clumsy it was forever annoying. That also made him Snotlout's number one target, and the sad part was that they were actually family, not that Snotlout probably cared.

Scoffing, she realized how much she actually put thought into her childhood friends. Or at least on Hiccup. He was never part of the 'childhood friends' group at their school, not that anyone would blame him. They all ignored him, and made their own jabs at him behind his back. It was probably better for them all if they maintained their distance.

Until she remembered that she would be seeing him in last period for the rest of the year. With a groan, she had to ask herself and the gods: just why had he continued with music? It was as clear as day that the boy had absolutely no talent in the subject, and every year he was there, messing up and killing every song he was handed like it was his only job. It was annoying, and for Astrid, her patience was being tested everyday as the boy continued to ruin everything she was working for.

Brushing her thoughts off, she greeted her parents before she settled for the night. Thoroughly tired out and ready to call it a night.

* * *

"Hiccup, son, you've got bags under your eyes, how late did you come back last night?" Stoick asked, watching his son grab the two pieces of toast and shove one of them into his mouth. He wasn't exactly against his son having some fun at night, he was once a teenager too mind you, but certain rules had to be set.

"Ah. Around one or two, maybe in between. I was a bit tired so I went to sleep as soon I got back though, the bags might just be from stress, I wouldn't worry," Hiccup replied, finishing off the toast in his mouth before eating the other. He scratched his head as he took a glance at the clock, "I'm off then, see ya dad," he announced as he headed for the door quickly.

"Ah! I'll send ya a message if something comes up, but the fridge is full, got that, son?" Stoick called after him, and Hiccup only gave a loud 'okay!' before closing the door after himself.

And as Hiccup made his way to the bus stop, early for once, he bit the inside of his mouth, silently berating himself. Last night was too late, and his father had caught on, he would have to watch the time more carefully next time. Maybe he should change locations for a while, just so he could get home quicker. As he continued to let his thoughts wander off, he rounded the corner and bumped into someone. Luckily, no one had a spectacular fall, and Hiccup began to apologize immediately as he winced in pain.

"Ah - Sorry about that, wasn't watching where I was," he looked up and paled, "Oh uh … Astrid! Hi, uh … good morning … Oh! You aren't hurt are you?" He asked, making a complete fool of himself as the blonde only glared up at him before scoffing and turning away. As she did so, Hiccup caught the rest of the group making their way towards him, all snickering. Before they could see him next to the blonde girl, Hiccup quickly distanced himself, hoping quietly that they wouldn't start a scene right at the start of his day.

* * *

He was lucky. For once the lot of them had decided to leave him alone in the morning, but he wasn't fooled. If they didn't bother with him in the morning, that only meant they had something up their sleeves. They were most likely planning something 'spectacular' to reveal later in the day.

"Oh! Hiccup!"

Ah. Was that it?

Hiccup turned, coming face to face with Heather. Former school queen and liar extraordinaire. She came to school all dressed up, heels, makeup, and a shirt that could barely be labeled 'modest'. She wore an easy going smile, but once again, Hiccup knew better, the makeup just hid the cruel taunting smile underneath it all.

"Hiccup? Is something wrong, I thought we were still friends … after that, we are still friends … right?" She asked, feigning hurt.

Friends? He nearly winced as the memories began to flow back in. During his first year, Heather had shown interest, spending her time with him, studying with him and even eating with him in the cafeteria. Little did he know, it was just a big game a huge group of people had planned together. Naturally, he knew nothing and so when he gathered up his courage and asked her out for just dinner, he was not expecting water balloons or paint to fall on him, covering him as the rest of the people in the crowded cafeteria nearly piss their pants in their laughter.

After that year, he began to see things much better. He would see the way the twins prepared for their next prank, he would see the way people pointed at him in the corner of his eyes, and he would always see when a certain blonde scoffed and rolled her eyes at his latest grand mess up.

"Hiccup? Are you even listening to me?" Heather asked, letting her crossed arms drop to her hips as her smile turned to that of fake concern, she stepped forward, leaning in to see his eyes, "Hiccup? Come on, don't you want to hang out again? Just as friends this time," she insisted, making to grab for his arm.

In a moment of panic, he rolled back. Or rather, his shoulder rolled back as his body turned on it's side, making sure her hands were not about to be grabbing any part of him. It was quite shocking, those around them - most likely not there by pure coincidence - had all stopped to watch in shock. Hiccup the useless had actually said "no", not verbally, but all the same, where did he get his nerves?

"I…" Hiccup began, but then a savage roar from the other side alerted him and he swept his gaze from Heather's shocked expression to the commotion down the other hall. Eyes widening, he could only watch as the large brick made its way in the air steadily over to where his head was. Something broke out in his heart, pure fear, his eyes moved, and the fear continued to grow as he caught the gleeful eyes of his cousin who was still in the position of having thrown the brick.

In a split second, Hiccup turned back to Heather, ignoring her equally fearful expression, he shoved her backwards, making sure the raven haired woman was not about to get hit with the brick - whether she was part of the set up or not - before he bit his lips and threw himself back. Right into a flip and landed in a crouch.

The sound of shattered glass was quick to follow the gasps that went off in the hall from the move he had performed.

Looking back, Hiccup saw the rest of the students were watching him in surprise and confusion, there was something … he couldn't recognize in Heather's eyes, but he chalked it up to shock and fear, his cousin …

He narrowed his eyes, the little shit himself wasn't even there anymore, having taken off as soon as things went bad and no one was watching. No matter, there were video cameras in the school for a reason, they'd find out in due time. However, there was one thing he failed to notice.

He got up to his feet, uneasily, faking it all up so they would all ignore the previous flip, make them think that it was just a fluke. He adjusted his shirt and bag before he gave a shake of a head towards Heather, again refusing her offer to stick around her, before he turned. Behind him, it seemed that Astrid Hofferson had been there … for long enough. Again, fear ripped through his body like a plague.

"A … Astrid?" He croaked, knees trembling. No. It was possible to fool her, too. She could fall for tricks, too. "D-Do you know who did that? Luckily I didn't get hit, yeah? Ha, haha, Yeah?" He laughed uneasily, and before Astrid could mutter anything, he sidestepped around her, scratching his head.

That left Astrid and the rest of the students in all three halls staring at the broken window and fallen Heather as Hiccup made a hasty escape.

* * *

There we go. Second chapter. I'm still debating if I should continue this, so anyone's opinions will come in handy. If you don't have the time to leave a review, a simple favorite or follow will do! If you do have that moment to leave review then thank you kindly.

My main concern at the moment is if I'm rushing through plot and not focusing on character development enough, so … maybe things might be too fast or too slow, many apologies.

See you all next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again everyone! I'm honestly surprised by the amount of supporting that everyone's showing, through reviews, favorites, follows … hell, I even got a PM telling me I'm a - and I quote - imbeililic fool. Thank you all of you, honestly, from the bottom of my bottomless stomach, thank you all for your kind words and motivation.

Since many have said that this is a fine story, **I've decided to continue this**. I've spent a few days coming up with plot, and I think everything should be good for a while, for me and you lot.

Many questions have also come up in the reviews and I'm more than happy to answer them via PM, hope you don't mind.

Notes: In case you haven't noticed yet, I never reread my stuff, so expect some crazy spelling or grammatical errors, feel free to point them out if there's no way you can overlook or infer what the rest of the sentence is. Thanks!

* * *

"_A … Astrid?" He croaked, knees trembling. No. It was possible to fool her, too. She could fall for tricks, too. "D-Do you know who did that? Luckily I didn't get hit, yeah? Ha, haha, Yeah?" He laughed uneasily, and before Astrid could mutter anything, he sidestepped around her, scratching his head. _

_That left Astrid and the rest of the students in all three halls staring at the broken window and fallen Heather as Hiccup made a hasty escape. _

Despite the many students that witnessed his escape, despite the fact that it was Hiccup, it seemed that some of them may have actually cared just a little bit to report this incident to a teacher. It honestly surprised him, but perhaps this little 'brick incident' was a little too far, even for his usual tormentors. Not too long after the incident, he was excused from the rest of his classes, which he was grateful for, that meant he wouldn't need to explain himself in the rest of his classes.

As he packed his things from his locker, he caught word that Heather was looking for him. He had no idea what for, but he didn't dwell on it for long, who knew what she was up to? Besides, after what happened, he was sure half the school was looking for him for answers and whatnot.

With that in mind, he quickly finished packing what he needed and made his way out the school. However, as he got on the bus, he realized one error: he could not go home. It was noon, and he was expected to be at school, if he went home now, his father would probably raise hell. Which meant more bait for Snotlout and the rest of his friends.

Quickly working through the pros and cons, Hiccup shook his head, and decided not to return home. Instead, he got off the bus a few stops before his usual stop, and found himself walking the rest of the way home. He was a slow walker, but he made that up with enough stamina to actually walk all the way without stopping. By the time his house came into view, it was already at a reasonable time for him to to normally return.

As he opened the door, he was surprised to find his father just behind the door with his hand outstretched as if he was just about to open the door himself. Brushing off the surprise, Hiccup gave a small chuckle, "Hey dad, I thought you'd be out already," he said, walking in as Stoick moved aside for him.

In response, Hiccup received a belly-rumbling chuckle from his father, "Sharp aren't you, my boy? I was just about to message ya, too, I'll be away, out of the country actually, for a week," Stoick explained as he watched Hiccup dump his bag by the bottom the stairs. "There's a lot of food in the fridge, and since I've got enough time, let me tell you a few things in person."

With a silent sigh, Hiccup rolled his eyes, making sure his father didn't see it before he turned and faced him, "Alright, let's hear it then," he said, and honestly, whatever his father said probably wouldn't be anything worse than whatever happened today.

"For this week, I'd prefer if you didn't stay out as much," Stoick began to explain, "there's been a lot going on at night, and I'd rather be out in the country and not worry about you getting kidnapped or something when yer at one of your stupid parties at night," Alright, that wasn't too bad, in Hiccup's opinion, "And to make sure, I've also got Gobber looking out for you. His phone's going to be on for the entire week so if anything goes wrong you can give him a call. He might also drop by some time, so don't be surprised."

Ah. So he was going to get a babysitter. Great. Really.

"Dad, it's totally understandable if you're worried and all, I'll promise not to go out at night until you get back, but I don't think we need to waste Gobber's time to look after me, I am of age, in case you haven't noticed," Hiccup replied bitterly, as he rolled his eyes at the last part. Many of his father's 'suggestions' often seemed to overlook that particular fact. He was mature and he was observant, he grew up in a city, he spent countless nights with all kinds of people, he knew what danger was and how to get away from it.

"Hiccup!" Stoick snapped, sending a stern look at his son, "I am trying to do what I think is best for you, and my sanity. Now, do we have a deal? You stay out of trouble, and Gobber'll keep tabs on ya," he continued, patting Hiccup on the shoulder firmly.

Hiccup kept back a frown and growl. The urge to do so was very tempting, but he would hold it back, he still respected his father to give him that. He would settle this in a mature, civilized manner. "I think it really is unnecessary for Gobber to keep tabs on me, I could always give you a call or something," he tried once more, and was ready to start giving reasons when the hand on his shoulder seemed to stiffen and clamp down even harder - almost hurting him.

"Hiccup! Do we have a deal?"

Again, Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek to keep the first answer he would've given inside his mouth. He was fuming inside as he quickly realized that his father wasn't exactly giving him any choice or willing to compromise. Hell, he didn't even give him the option of "No deal". Resigned, he glared up at his father, and bit out, "Sure. Deal. I'll have Gobber babysit me and I'll keep my nose clean," he replied, letting sarcasm - his long time friend - reign free.

Maybe his father had selective hearing, it certainly did seem so when the man immediately smiled after hearing his son agree and brushed off the rest of the words. The grip on his shoulder loosened up and Hiccup received two pats on the back before his father moved on, gathering the rest of his own stuff by the end of the stairs, just next to his own bag.

"That's what I like to hear," the man said as he made his way towards the door, heaving most of the bags onto his right shoulder, "I'll be sure to give a call or two throughout the week, just so you know."

"Just where are you headed to?" Hiccup asked as he watched from his spot, just by the stairs.

"Who knows?" Stoick replied, shrugging, "The band needed me, and last I heard they're somewhere in Europe, maybe Italy."

"Great," cue the secret eyeroll, "Have fun then, _dad_"

Thankfully, it seemed that his old man seriously had some severe selective hearing, for he missed the highly sarcastic bitter tone his son had used as he walked out of the door.

* * *

That night, Hiccup had half the mind to ignore his father's orders and head out to the parking lot - or anywhere - to erase the horrible feelings that had woken up inside him from that argument. He had no idea what was stopping him, he wasn't scared of Gobber telling his father that he had disobeyed, but it was something else …

He had no clue, but he just wasn't up for it tonight. He was tired. He nearly got his head done in, he nearly blew his 'Hiccup the Useless' cover, and he made himself look like shit in front of school queen Astrid herself. The last one seemed to hold the most importance out of all three, much to his irritation.

He thought himself crazy, he let himself wonder how a girl, an extremely attractive and talented girl, could ever hold more importance than one of his family members. Granted, Snotlout wasn't directly related, but he was his cousin, and he's been stuck with the asshole since they were brought to the world. Perhaps it was the fact that Hiccup had gotten used to him, had gotten used to the asshole and his friends' plans. It was shocking, though, how he threw the concept of 'family' away so easily though. The asshole had been so gleeful to cause him harm, so happy that he had the chance to deal some serious injuries onto his person.

Some family I have, the young adult thought as he snorted and turned over on his bed.

Not wanting to dwell on the subject of his father or his cousin, Hiccup's mind scrambled to the next thing to think about. One Astrid Hofferson fit the bill quite nicely in that department, and Hiccup groaned, realizing that despite everything, his childhood crush still found its way into his thoughts.

Bitterly, he surrendered to the thoughts and let himself go through the memories of their failed 'relationship', not that anything happened at all, mind all of you. He was simply young, their parents had been best friends for many many years, and … Astrid was very attractive, even at a young age.

Oh great, now I sound like some horny teenage boy, he thought as he rolled his eyes, scolding himself. Astrid had many attractive qualities, not just her physical appearance. She was passionate, she was protective and loyal to her friends and family, she was intelligent, honest, oh the list went on.

Giving up any attempt to sleep, Hiccup sat up on his bed, turning his head towards the clock before turning towards the window. It was midnight, the moon was bright tonight, to hell with his father's orders.

As he grabbed Prince's hoodie and pants, he let a sad smile draw itself onto his face.

Astrid Hofferson was like a shooting star. Bright, special, and a miracle. It'd be impossible to chase or catch her, she was simply out of his - and probably even Prince's - league.

* * *

Going to the parking lot was out of the question. At least for the next few weeks. Hiccup was well aware that Snotlout, and the rest of his childhood friends, liked to spend their nights there, where the atmosphere was relaxing, fun, and laid back. There was no danger there, and everyone there was just looking to chat, maybe flirt around, but nothing extremely dangerous.

The place he decided to go to tonight, though? Definitely dangerous.

Unlike the parking lot, the abandoned underground subway was a place for older people. Adults, and the brave young adults armed to the teeth would be an often sight there. Everyone there had their own agenda, some were dealing some shady business, getting a strong buzz, or getting into some serious business. The people here weren't nice, they were harsh, and reminded Hiccup of his … peers at his own school. Here, underground and surrounded by these people, Prince was nothing more than a better than average dancer who didn't even have a group. These people would look down on him, some would grudgingly give him respect, others simply liked other groups.

It was a challenge, and Prince accepted it with a grim frown, but determined eyes. Here, he was not the top dog, he was mixed in with the rest of the 'regulars', and he knew how to act accordingly. When he arrived, things had already begun, but it's not like the people here gave invitations or set the time up. He would watch and when the time was right, he'd jump in.

Ah. There it was!

When the first window opened up, Prince pounced in. The group in front of him gave him space, like lions watching their prey. Their gaze was intense, but like a lone wolf, Prince returned it easily before setting his pace, his rhythm, and extended his 'greeting' out skillfully. The crowd approved, roaring loudly, which quickly let Prince switch the grim frown with a smile.

The pack of lions in front of him did not take too kindly to having their fire stolen from them. They had been on for quite a few rounds, definitely had some nice footwork and teamwork, but in the end too flashy to have decent flow, Prince assessed as they returned the 'greeting'. Once the lions finished their swagger, the crowd roared again, knowing things were about to get intense between the two.

Prince bit his lip before he started, paying extra attention to his arms and head snaps for this round. While the other group may be slightly sloopy, they were able to perform special tricks with their teammates helping them flip or whatnot, Prince was a solo man, he did not have that kind of support. He'd have to make do with all that he had, and a little fanservice, he concluded his thought with a sly grin as he made his way forward towards one of the 'lioness' on the other side.

She watched him warily as he made his way over, a grin that held no ill will soothed her slightly, but she wasn't about to let her guard down. She threw a glare as she watched him swagger up to her, twirling and ghosting his hands over and around her, as if she were some … holy being? Suddenly, much to her - and the crowd's - surprise, the Prince flipped onto one knee, brought her hand up, and kissed the tip of her knuckles, all with a sly grin. That little fox.

Before she made a move, though, the Prince quickly rolled and flipped back to a more safe distance, out of her punching range. The crowd went wild with this, throwing in whistles with the roaring and clapping, and realizing what he had done, the girl could only throw a smirk and playful wink at him.

Her leader, however, wasn't exactly too happy about this. He growled over at her before he turned to the rest of his group, grunted a few words and they all turned to leave, muttering darkly as the crowd boo'ed and sneered at them all the way out.

Not exactly too happy with that round won, Prince simply gave the crowd a smile and shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'Well … what can I do?', earning quick laughs and whistles of approval.

Not long after, the music began to pick up and get louder, and everyone began to jump, pumping their arms up as they began to look forward to the next round of talented dancers duking it out on the floor in front of them.

Prince simply soaked up the spotlight, scanning through the crowd for anyone who could've been his match for the night. Well, he didn't have to look any further. Once the music seemed to have reached the loudest, another man stepped forth. He was clothed in all black, making it slightly hard to judge his build, but one thing that surprised Prince was the intensity of his pale, green eyes that spoke volumes of experience and skill. Shivering in anticipation, he shot the other man a friendly smile, he knew he might not win them all, but at least tonight, he'd enjoy himself and lose to someone who might be able to teach him a thing or two for any future dance offs.

Soon, the noise the crowd managed to make was about to overwhelm the music, that was when they begun.

Prince started it off, there was no greeting this time, no bows, no mocking salutes that he usually loved to give at the beginning to his opponent. From here on, it was a fight. He would send the message loud and clear, he would send the challenge and the man would know that he'd have to fight like hell to win over him: the Prince.

With a huff, the other man grunted and gave a subtle nod, recognizing and accepting the challenge before he began to return the message.

Clearly, he was not a man to deal with going in halfassed. He danced with his life hanging right in the middle of two cleavers, his eyes were focused, and always ready to switch gears at any given moment. The most incredible thing about this man was the fact that he was fast. He'd be in the air only to complete whatever jump, flip, or trick he had started, and would never have any useless air time hanging. That and wearing all the black in an underground subway almost had Prince missing some of his movements at certain times.

Once he finished, Prince merely shook his head. No. His assessment had been correct, the man was light years ahead of him, experienced, and had more skill, if he had continued on, it'd be an insult to this man.

He was not a worthy opponent for him.

With that thought, Prince merely shook his head, wincing as secretly as possible as the crowd began to jeer and told him to 'get outta here!'. To his surprise though, the man in front of him seemed to relax and return the shake of the head before he turned and walked away.

As the crowd began to boo and threaten to throw things, Prince ran out of there quickly, all the while wondering why the man had surrendered as well. It made no sense.

* * *

Something felt … different, he decided as he ignored the staring, pointing, and whispers that followed him down the hall. After that 'enlightening' night, he had a decidedly easier time falling asleep, but chalked that up to exhaustion. When he woke up, however, the weight he was used to waking up with wasn't there, or at least it felt lighter.

He wondered what that meant, as he made a stop at his locker. He opened it with practiced ease, and began to dump whatever he did not need at the moment with what he needed, as he was about to close it, he noticed a white envelope sitting innocently at the bottom. Cautiously, he knelt down, and picked it up.

It was small, light, and conveniently slightly see through, letting him know that there was no glitter, no bugs or anything that was about to screw him over. Still hesitant, he opened the envelope slowly, and saw the innocent paper that was in it. Probably some hate or 'go die' note from his tormentors he thought as he opened the message up and decided to humor it.

It was a short message, unsigned, but after reading it, it was clear who it was from.

Maybe he'd have to change his opinion of Heather just slightly, he realized, as he crumbled the message up and threw it into the nearest trash can. The message was a simple sorry note, telling him that she was ashamed to show her face, that she had no part of that, and that she was thankful that he still had the heart to save her after everything that had happened before. It could've been a trick, to lower his guard, but even if she had been sincere, it's not like the two of them would be running into each other any time soon to actually make amends.

On his way down the stairs, a certain deja vu feeling crept up and he paused and sighed. In response, a cough was heard and he snapped his head forward, and was quite shocked to see Astrid herself with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"G-Good morning! Wow! Wha-What are the chances … Hi! Hi! Astrid," Geezus Christ, he sounded so stupid, he groaned inwardly as Astrid seemed to get more and more annoyed with his every word.

"Listen here. I think everyone knows that … you can't exactly do well in music, even with your excuse for missing yesterday, just … stay out the way today!" She said, and he swore there was some sort of fire in her eyes as she huffed and walked past him quickly.

"Ha! Knocked you right into your place, useless, which is under my foot!" A voice he really didn't want to hear sneered behind him, and knowing better, Hiccup kept his gaze steadily forward and soon enough, he felt a familiar weight pressing in between his shoulders that sent him down the rest of the stairs.

This time, there wasn't anyone around, and a dumb jock was only a dumb jock, so as he was about to hit the ground, he tucked himself in and tried to roll, to lessen the impact. It hurt nonetheless, but at least nothing would be broken, twisted or sprained.

As the last of Snotlout's laughter rang through the stairwells, Hiccup only sigh and grumbled to himself.

He was definitely going to have to sneak out again tonight.

* * *

Sorry for the late update guys! Hopefully you won't have to wait that long again for another update, if you ever need to know, just pop by my profile page, I usually update some weird messages before I start writing or whatnot.

Feel free to ask me any questions, I'll be answering via PM most likely.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Welcome back to another chapter of 'Lost in the Dark'. First things first, HAVE YOU ALL SEEN THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS! Look! Look at it! 50 of you sexy followers! Thank you very much, that 50 is just screaming all the support I need to continue doing this! The same goes for the favorites and reviews!

On the note of reviews, a huge shoutout to **QuillOwl**, **Thorongil82**,**NomomoCutieXD**, **Rangerapprentice**, thank you very much! I'm glad you approve of how I write this, and I have to admit I enjoyed making you all guess whether it was Toothless or not, you get to find out this chapter.

On another note, in response to some questions that I think everyone might've had:

1. I don't streetdance. **Hell, I don't even **_**dance, **_**period** … so, don't expect me to get into crazy descriptions of how the dancing actually goes. If I did actually do that, you'd just be reading huge chucks of description and then no plot because all the dancing description would take up 7 pages: that is, if you wanted the dancing scenes.

1.5 **I don't need to dance to write this right**? Sorry professional dancers, don't unfollow.

2. Concerning the music, **I don't exactly have a song in mind when I write about the dance scenes**, I put in 'Hellish Beats' because I have no wish to start up a debate of 'This song isn't even good for dancing', or 'There's no hellish beats in this'. I'm giving my readers the freedom of choosing their own music to accompany whatever they're reading. If you really want to know, I usually listen to nightcores. Most recent one I'm hooked up on: Negative Nightcore Pyromania.

2.5 In chapter 1, I'm sure I wrote a part saying that '**rumors say he remixed his own music'**, so I thought that would've made it clear that sometimes it's not even a song, it might just be legitimately some instrumental music and then remix beats and alien noises.

3. For everyone guessing, I'**m glad that I can work some suspense into this,** thanks for being cooperative. For people who are pretty sure/dead certain they know who it is … sorry for making the plot go so slowly!

4. Some people are a little confused about why I separate 'Prince' and Hiccup. **Prince and Hiccup ARE the same person**, Hiccup just refers to Prince as third person. Hiccup isn't exactly the confident skilled dancer, the persona he created is, so … hoped that cleared the confusion.

That's all. I'll continue to answer questions and the like, you've heard enough from me, now onto the story! Please remember, I finish these things at the crack of midnight or dawn sometimes, so I never reread or check over. Sorry!

* * *

_As the last of Snotlout's laughter rang through the stairwells, Hiccup only sigh and grumbled to himself._

_He was definitely going to have to sneak out again tonight._

o-o

After the uneventful day of classes and no more acts of violence directed towards him after Snotlout pushed him off the stairs, Hiccup made it back to his empty house in one piece. His hair was a little ruffled, but he wasn't surprised since he went out for lunch, and it was rather windy. His clothes was a little dirty, and he only frowned before tossing it into the laundry basket before digging through his closet for a hoodie instead. It was rather cold, and he had no doubt it'd only get colder as the sun setted. Not to mention, if things went as planned, he would no doubt be outside tonight.

He took a glance at the clock before nodding to himself and got started with his homework. While he was no musician, at least he was 'skilled' in the other areas of academics, he wouldn't call himself smart or genius, but he worked efficiently enough to finish the pile he had in a few hours with time to spare. As he stretched and tilted his head side to side, he opened the handle of the fridge doors, and poked his head in.

There were fruits, milk, bread, and other things that Hiccup had no interest in. His father had mentioned having a full fridge, but clearly, it was a full fridge with nothing that he liked. He closed the fridge and sent a small prayer to the heavens above before he bent over to grab another handle and pulled. In the freezer part of the fridge, there was little inside, but it seemed like Hiccup had his prayers answered. Inside, there were small boxes of microwaveable food, secretly some of his favorites.

Of course, eating things like this was unhealthy, not to mention bland after some time, but since his father neglected to buy anything of interest, he would have to fall back onto some old favorites to last the week. As he microwaved the box, another thought rammed into him - if he wished to continue to better himself in his dancing, he shouldn't be eating things like this and should probably see if he had any vitamins to keep his body healthy.

Nonetheless, Hiccup ate the boxed food quickly, adding a glass of milk before he dumped the box in the trash and the glass into the sink. He still had a few hours before he could really call it 'night time' so he may as well rest now, lest he got tired later on. Hell, maybe the rest of the people there would try to chase him out, after last nights surrender. He needed to be ready for anything there, as his father had warned him, unspeakables have been happened at night more frequently.

* * *

Hiccup arrived at the underground subway a little later than he would've liked. It was further away from where he lived, and he'd rather not drive to raise any questions, so he walked his way there, through the harsh biting winds. As a side note, he had also waited until Gobber made his appearance at his door, at midnight of all times, thankfully the man still thought of him as a child and left him to 'sleep'.

Once he got out of that, he was basically free.

As he finally made it to his destination, he was pleasantly surprised to see that no one scowled or spit at him yet. The people here were not known to forget nor forgive. They came here for a good time and great show, if they received anything less, there'd be hell to pay. While Hiccup hoped that there wouldn't be a repeat performance, he may have wished to see the black dressed man here again. There was so much one could learn from watching on the sides, while he had a taste of what he could do from engaging him in a dance off, the adrenaline got in the way of clearly assessing and properly taking apart the man's technique with a hyper critical eye.

He walked around for a bit, ignoring the groups crowded in corners, or the couples that were spending time with each other against the walls, and made his way down 'into the pit' where people were already hyped and watching with drunken stupor.

Down there, Hiccup was surprised to see a rare one on one. Solo mans like Hiccup were a little rare to come by, many people often came together to form a group, or sometimes solo mans were picked up by groups who recognized their skill. The two facing off were clearly skilled enough that other groups here would most likely try to recruit.

As he watched on, he quickly realized one thing. On one side, the man was dressed in all black, holding eye contact with him. It was through this that Hiccup recognized the intense pale green eyes, another realization that came was that he was unhooded, showing a mane of jet black hair pulled back away from his forehead. The man raised a hand and pointed at him before beckoning him down to the pit, people all around turned to see him before clearing a path to let him pass. Laughing and encouraging him to get down there.

With the pressure on his shoulders, Hiccup took a breath before making his way over the ledge and jumped down, facing the unhooded man who gave him a lookover.

"I've been waiting for you," he said, his voice deep and mature, "you certain take your time for things like this, don't you?" he added, gesturing to all the people at the top of the ledge who were talking amongst themselves.

Hiccup only shrugged, not sure how to approach this, hell, he doubted that Prince knew how to handle this either, "Sorry for the wait, then, but let me ask you," Prince paused dramatically, "What business do you have with me? It's rare for someone skilled as yourself to take notice in other's."

The man only shrugged, "You haven't met me then, I happen to be … more observant. Enough talk, show me your dancing," he said, and as if on cue, the music began to increase in volume again.

The man went first, he had been waiting for long enough for the young man to arrive. He had 'warmed up' against other people as he waited, but they weren't enough, they didn't have the spark that the young teen could make in his steps. He had been puzzled the other night, wondering just where he had seen dancing like that in his life before deciding to come back again to see it once more.

Across from him, Prince watched on in awe. Again, the man's speed and precision was all kinds of amazing. Especially now that he had unhooded himself, it was even more amazing to watch the untamed hair follow the dance, as if it were alive. Once the man stepped back, Prince felt the need to best this, to overcome this obstacle that was never there in his life. He had never seen anyone on that kind of level. How would he fare against this? Where would he stand in this man's eyes?

On and on they went. For a long time, the two continued to trade off in their steps and catching the odd beats that came from time to time. The man was always one step ahead, bringing out more and more to the floor as Prince daringly tried to set his foot onto the golden plate. It was clear to Prince that it was an almost impossible to stand toe to toe against him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try. If anything, he was determined and not a quitter, his mother had taught him that much. The fact he skip or drop music classes were proof enough despite all his complaining.

Soon, after all the fun and fear was sapped away, the two were panting lightly and sweating under all the pressure. The man's hair had already been pulled into a ponytail long ago, but Prince had yet to even unhood himself. The audience clearly saw that this was the end and quickly dispersed, going about to find another source of entertainment in the underground space. The two left in the pit, did not move, Prince fell onto his knees, letting out a relieved sigh as the man leaned against the wall, trying to control his breathing.

"I hope … that was good for you," Prince said, once he swallowed a gulp of air, watching the man closely for facial expressions, "you are very skilled, I didn't think people like you existed in places like this."

The man simply scoffed and rolled his eyes, "You have no idea how ironic that is. You are young, but I haven't seen anyone dance with … the kind of fire or soul you have, even among the people who strive or live off of dancing," he replied before tilting his head to look at the time. "It's late and this may seem suspicious, but I'd like to talk with you … over some food maybe?"

Of course, Hiccup was hesitant, but quickly racked his brains for the closest populated place near the subway, "McDonalds sounds very good right about now," he suggested, and an approving look shone onto the man's eyes.

* * *

After tearing up the subway with their dancing, the two were hungry and thirsty. They barely exchanged words on the walk to McDonalds but as soon as they ordered and seated themselves, they were quick to get into conversation.

"I hope you don't take offense, but … you really don't look like you go to school, if you get what I mean?" Hiccup started, hoping the man would understand the question underneath.

The man only grunted, "I graduated years ago, kid," he replied, "been wandering around for a while now that I think about it."

Hiccup nodded, "I … This may sound a little personal, but would you mind if you told me about yourself? I hope you don't misunderstand, but … it's rare to see someone skilled come out of nowhere without explanation."

"Looks like we think alike, but before mine, how about you go first, since you asked and all."

At this, Hiccup hesitated. He had kept Prince and Hiccup's life separate since the beginning, and no one was ever supposed to know, but this man … maybe he could entrust him with this piece of information. Especially if he were to continue meeting up with him, and squaring off with him. With a nod, he took a sip of his drink before sighing.

"My life outside dancing isn't very exciting. Obviously, my name isn't really Prince, it's Hiccup. My father is a rather famous musician and plays in a band, my mother … she was a great dancer, proficient in many styles - including streetdance of course," Hiccup paused there, seeing if the man would recognize who he was with all those facts hurled at him.

"Musician and dancer … and you used past tense for you mother, would you happen to be Hiccup Horrendous Haddock?" The man asked, surprise coloring his face and voice all the same as he stared wide eyed at him.

"The third," Hiccup replied cheekily, "I take it you've heard of me and my horrible record at the closest art school around here? That's me." He added sarcastically. He had hoped to gain the man's respect, as he obviously respected the man for his dancing, but after finding out he was possibly the biggest loser in the city, he could see all the 'cool points' just flying out the window.

Instead, to his surprise, the man only chuckled, throwing his head back, "I'll admit that was surprising, I've heard stories and rumors, and imagine that the real thing's sitting in front of me, the only thing I really have to ask though … did your father _really _insist on putting you in music every year?"

After that the two got along well, the man was true in when he first said he was observant, he didn't follow what the rumors often said and had seen the boys talent first hand which made the rumors a pile of petty comments. It was clear that he understood that while Hiccup was horrible at everything, he could dance, very well, something that the two had in common which made them all the better friends.

"Well then … I'll start by saying my name's Toothless, and before you ask, my teeth are real," he said, smirking, "I got no parents, and when I was your age in school … things were rough, and eventually whatever I did in school continued to a point where things were very dangerous. I … don't think I can tell you details, but I will say that while my group has broken up, it won't be longer before things start heating up again."

From what Hiccup had learned, Toothless had been a part of a group before, and it didn't surprise him. A man that skilled must've had his own experiences in a group and on his own. His group was very skilled, but also cruel. Their leader had been running things behind their back and the group was split into two, almost like a civil war. Toothless, and a few others had ran away, and gone into hiding to avoid their leader and wandered on their own, never to come into touch with other ex-members.

But obviously, nothing ever stayed quiet. Nothing could be hidden forever. Toothless knew that much, and while he had no plan, he knew that he would not be able to win alone, and would need to find some of his old friends to prepare for anything that may be coming in the near future.

"It's not that I'm asking you to partake in this stupidity," Toothless said, "this is our mess and we don't need kids to be throwing themselves into line of fire. I agreed to tell you this much about myself, and I only did so because you interest me. You are different, much different from the dancers I'm used to seeing back in my own younger years, and I think we could certainly learn much more about each other as friends,"

Hiccup nodded, understanding that it would be rather beneficial to both of them if they continued to meet up. "Clearly," he replied, "but I also have other thoughts about this. I think we can genuinely make this work out, this friendship, at one point I think we can get past this mutual need to feed our interest. I'm still going around on my own, and I've yet to experience what it is to be in a group … do you get what I'm hinting at?"

"Of course. I don't agree or disagree for now, but like you said. Maybe one day we'll get past that interest to see what it is we can both sit with. For now, just know that you interest me. If you ever need me, I'll be here most nights to eat, maybe you'll run into me," Toothless said as he stood up, leaving the tray and the trash there, "or I'll run into you. Who knows." He smirked as he walked off, leaving Hiccup to think over everything.

Obviously, Toothless hadn't said everything. He had only gotten a gist of it, but even that small tidbit of information had said enough of the man's past. It also explained the 'more frequent unspeakable night activities' that had been occurring. He sat there for a while, thinking of his place in the night life and in the city. He was Prince, the lone man who was skilled on his own, but he knew he desperately needed a group, that was no easy feat to achieve and groups didn't just pop out from nowhere: skilled or not.

Instead, maybe he should focus on what he suggested earlier with Toothless, just friendship for now. He was intelligent, sarcastic, and was very determined in his goals, definitely someone Hiccup could see himself relying on. If everything turned out ok - if he didn't mess up - maybe he'd have a friend.

_My first friend in a long while, _He realized as he walked his way back home.

* * *

There you go everyone! If you haven't already, follow or favorite!

I will apologize that this chapter, or really, the last two chapter even, had lacked a little in quality, whether it be plot holes, lack of character development or whatnot. I've been trying my best, my my writing mood just never comes and I never get really deep into it so it's been messing me up.

Another small thing would be that my confidence has taken a few shots to the heart, there's been a smaller responses to my previous chapter, ever since I announced that I'd continue. So … did I do something wrong? Or am I still good? Anything I need to fix?


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